Hey everyone, I have two questions that it would be really cool to have answered!

well, I realise I am nowhere near the restuarant-performing level, and being fourteen I wouldn't be taken seriously anyway.

Nevertheless, my first question is how to introduce yourself when performing for a single table.I honestly can't think of an introduction which doesn't make me sound like a complete tool.~Pingumagic

If you are only fourteen, this is what I suggest. Spend the next 4 years honing your skills. Perform for strangers whenever you can. When you are 16, get a job in the most upscale restaurant possible. Some restaurants won't hire unless you are 18, but some hire as young as 16. The best position to have is waiting tables. But hosting or even bussing will work as long as you have opportunities to interact with the guests....if you are bussing make sure you take empty plates off tables so you have an excuse to interact with the restaurant guests and maybe make a joke or make them smile somehow. No offense meant at all, and if you find *me* offensive, you aren't ready to handle the types of people that go out to eat. Some (not all) restaurant guests have this attitude that since they are spending money, they can act however they want and you need to be prepared to handle rude a-holes in a kind non-offensive manner that leaves them smiling.

I'm serious! The biggest factor is not what magic you do, its your ability to INTERACT WITH PEOPLE. The best way to practice this is by working in a restaurant. You can have cheesy magic, but if you can interact with people in a pleasant manner, that will mean more than what trick you do.

For all I know, you could be as professional and mature as a magician who has been professionally performing for 30 years, but you are still a teenager and that means there is still the perspective that ignorant, stupid waste of life people can have..."I'm 40 years old and I'm not gonna have some punk teenager show me up in front of my wife and kids! Bla bla bla!". Hope that makes sense.

Its hard to be a teenager magician because NOBODY will take a teen seriously. Most people will see you as a kid trying to prove something, and if this is the case, you will be heckled and shut down completely. When you think about it, its not hard for a heckler to expose your magic...all they have to do is reach out and grab something...and nothing brings an adult more pleasure than putting a teen in his place.

People skills is perhaps the biggest factor to performing magic for money, and it takes time and maturity to develop people skills. If you don't have them, you won't be successful. Its that simple.

Also, if you can get your hands on some of the (OOP) Magical Arts Journals...published by Michael Ammar and Adam Fleischer, Charles Greene wrote lots of great advice for Restaurant workers. The MAJ issues are from August 1986 through February 1987. These are very hard to find, but worth searching out...not only is there invaluable advice in these issues, there are some great magic tricks as well.

Most of these can be had as electronic downloads for only $5 or so from www.ammarmagic.com

if you want to get their attention and get some magic going at a table this is what you should do. its how i get people to want to see my magic.

i walk up to a table holding a stealth pen or b2 bomber. i then walk by the table making stabbing motions at a bill. i then say "hey, dont you move or the bill gets it, hey i saw you move. thats it, the bill gets it. (i stab it) look what you made me do. but dont worry." then i rip it down the side "im a professional........(rubbing were the rip would be to show it restored) magician."

When i did restaurant magic i would simply say "Good evening. my name is Marc, i work here at *wherever* and i was wondering if you would like to see some magic ? For FREE mind you, it's just a bit of fun"

It is important you tell them that you do actually work there, it gives you an air of authority, makes it clear that you do this all the time.
I have performed on many occasions without saying that and i got the question "So, do you work here?" and the first time i looked at the guy and said "No, i put on a suit and was walking down the street and suddenly had the urge to do some magic to strangers. I'm a very lonely guy"

Thankfully they all laughed like crazy but i was actually being more rude than they figured. Stupid question but a valid one.
So i learnt to make sure i made that point.

I would always try and point out that it is FREE entertainment also since if some strange guy or girl appears at their table and offers a performance it is often suspected they are seeking money in return. I do know however that some people work for tips so i guess that may not be an option if that is the case.

I am aware that some magicians just walk up to a table, don't introduce themselves right away but instead do some effect and THEN introduce themselves. That idea always worried ME. If you were at a table with friends, having a nice conversation and suddenly some stranger appears at your table, grabs a spoon and bends it magically you would think "Who the *blank* is this psycho ? Give me my spoon back" or if you just start with "pick a card" - Why would they want to pick a card ? What purpose does it serve their evening to pick a playing card from some stranger/weirdo that simply walked up to THEIR table with no invitation ?

If they have no idea who you are or why you are there, they will probably spend the time you are doing your opening effect thinking "What's going on and who is this oddball ?"

If you are going to do that, i suggest thinking about it long and hard and picking something that will not 'freak them out' in the wrong way.

Also, sometimes it is a good idea to let them know you will not be there forever, in the sense that you are not going to perform an hour long magical epic where cards speak Shakespeare while they are at the 654 Club or something else that is going to REPLACE their night rather than enhance it.

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